Add to the Beauty: Words

I heard an actor recite this and thought it was amazing.

I can not say this has been my philosophy but I find many parts of it inspiring and uplifting!

Passing on the splendid torch sounds just right.

“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. 

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. 

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. 

It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

George Bernard Shaw

I have a video which I can not ad here for all my trying.  It's the conclusion to Peter Kreeft's commencement address given at Franciscan Univ. last year.  If you like the conclusion  you can find the whole speech on YouTube.

But here is the text.  It's different from the Shaw quote but  I was tickled by the use of the flame metaphor used in both.

"Well, I'm finished.

I fully expect to be charged with hate speech for this talk, and if you too, oppose these lies, you

may also receive hate, for cavities hate dentists, and cancers hate radiation, and cockroaches hate flashlights, and demons hate truth.  But love cannot stop warring against hate and light cannot stop warring against darkness, as you see every time you light a candle in a dark room.

And that little experiment is a clue about what is inevitably bound to happen in the end.  No matter how smoky and stinky and slimy the darkness is, it cannot endure the light.  However successful the darkness may be, for however long a time, and however it may increase, and however many more times we continue to lose every battle in the culture war, the light is imperishable.

All lies die.  Truth alone remains.

So there's my commencement address, then.  It wasn't very long, and its positive point is very simple.  Just go forth and preach the truth, the good news, by both word and deed, and then let the chips fall as they may.

And please remember Mother Teresa's life-changing and liberating principle:  God did not put you in this world to be successful.  He put you in this world to be faithful."

~Peter Kreeft

Pass it on,

Donna

Add to the Beauty: Surprises

A few weeks ago Katie sent me this picture.  It's our car, parked outside of her apartment in Madison.  She was startled and a little worried to find it wrapped in what looked like police tape.

No ticket.

Not parked illegally.

hummmm

On closer inspection I noticed the tape says Findorff.  

Findorff is a huge construction company in Madison.

They happen to be building apartments across the street from Katie.

Ah.  It's all becoming clear.

No doubt some young workers saw Katie come and go in this car and went in for a good old fashioned prank on the cute girl.   This is how we did things in the 70's.

Rocks in the hubcaps.

40 pumpkins left on the stoop.

Short sheeting a bed

innocent. stupid. memorable.

pranks.

Tell me the best prank you can recall.

Donna

.

 

Add to the Beauty: Words

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.”

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

I've never read this before but it was brought to my attention yesterday when a woman read it on her Instagram post.  It's so beautiful and poetic and I bet many of you have read this book over the years.  It has the dreamy descriptive prose I can't get enough of.

I love the idea of taking in this very moment and loving it for it's unique splendor.

Just like a snapshot, for your soul.

Encourage one another,

Donna

Add to the Beauty: A Summer Visit

I took a short trip up to Minocqua to see two of my sisters and enjoy some time on the lake.

I saw loons and eagles and hummingbirds and deer.

But I will remember most, the remembering.

It's not easy to remember things from fifty years ago, but it's darn fun to try.

Thank you Cindy, Pat and Nancy!

Love you all so much.

“You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you...”

~Martin

****

“For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands”

~Rossetti

*****

“We hug, but there are no tears. For every awful thing that's been said and done, she is my sister. Parents die, daughters grow up and marry out, but sisters are for life. She is the only person left in the world who shares my memories of our childhood, our parents, our Shanghai, our struggles, our sorrows, and, yes, even our moments of happiness and triumph. My sister is the one person who truly knows me, as I know her. The last thing May says to me is 'When our hair is white, we'll still have our sister love.”

~Lisa See

******

I love this piece by a brother describing his sisters,

“My sisters were the coolest people I knew, and still are. I have always aspired to be like them and know what they know. My sisters were the color and noise in my black-and-white boy world-how I pitied my friends who had brothers. Boys seemed incredibly tedious and dim compared to my sisters, who were always a rush of energy and excitement, buzzing over all the books, records, jokes, rumors and ideas we were discovering together. I grew up thriving on the commotion of their girl noise, whether they were laughing or singing or staging an intervention because somebody was wearing stirrup pants. I always loved being lost in that girl noise.”

~Bob Sheffield, Talking to girls about Duran, Duran

Encourage one another,

Donna

 

Add to the beauty: memories

 

In the summer of 1975 (my seventeenth summer) I lived in a cottage on Lake Minocqua.  I had a job at DeByles clothing store and worked 5:00-9:00 Monday thru Friday.  The rest of my time was spent reading and tanning on the dock.  I fed myself ice cream and stayed up every night playing Yahtzee until the Star Spangled Banner came on the tiny black and white tv.  It was a little scary by myself but I bore it bravely.  I read Gone with the Wind that summer and remember reading until the sun came up and the loons called good morning.

Family (Nancy and Binky had a newborn and were parenting the twins, Cindy and Sue) and friends came and went that summer but I mostly remember being by myself.  

I drove a medium blue Oldsmobile 442 with an 8-track  in it.  (Hand me down car from Bink).  If you've ever driven a winding back lake road you will know the beauty of the dappled light flickering thru the leaves that cover the road like a canopy.  I had three 8-tracks with me.  This will tell you a lot about me.  First was Chicago.  Second was The Spinners and third was the That's Entertainment Soundtrack. 

When I hear the songs from that time I am transported back to that quiet, independent, winsome summer and those flickering drives on Country Club Rd.  

My seventeenth summer was different from Angie Morrow's. (book my Maureen Daly). (I did, however, five years later, meet and marry a baker who lived not that far from Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. ) 

My seventeenth summer was slow and dreamy and hummed with lapping water, the wind in the pines and Chicago.

Much like Angie's.

~donna glyman boucher

 

Add to the Beauty: Lullaby

with Zeke

with Katie

James Taylor is really the chillest singer, isn't he?

His guitar playing is my absolute favorite.

with Griffin Reid

Our newest grandchild.

Patrick and Shelby, Dottie and Silas welcomed Griffin on July 5th.

So thankful and blessed to have another child in our lives to love.

Encourage one another,

Donna Elsie

and i still love you

 

Add to the beauty: Songs

I'm forever jotting down songs to sing to the babies in my life. When I am under pressure I sing a little song called playmate from the 40's.  Oddly, it is the number one song that is always on the tip of my tongue.  I have a tune that I add words to and ad lib.  It's not pretty but it's handy.

 'What'll I do" from the Great Gatsby once brought little Katie to tears.

 I can remember the words to "Many a New Day" from Oklahoma which makes a much better lullaby than OKLAHOMA or Poor Jud is Dead.

Yeah.  You're not getting anything normal around here.  haha

Who knows how long I've loved you

You know I love you still

Will I wait a lonely lifetime

If you want me to, I will

For if I ever saw you

I didn't catch your name

But it never really mattered

I will always feel the same

Love you forever and forever

Love you with all my heart

Love you whenever we're together

Love you when we're apart

And when at last I find you

Your song will fill the air

Sing it loud so I can hear you

Make it easy to be near you

For the things you do endear you to me

You know I will

I will

~John and Paul

I happened upon I will

 this winter and find the chorus is easy to remember and pleasing to the babies and me.

I wanted to learn this lovely song by Billy Joel but forget it when it comes to lullaby time.  But perhaps one day I get it down.

Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you've been asking me

I think you know what I've been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you

Then you should always know

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are

I never will be far away

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to sleep

And still so many things I want to say

Remember all the songs you sang for me

When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean

I'm rocking you to sleep

The water's dark and deep, inside this ancient heart

You'll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be

Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby

Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone

But lullabies go on and on

They never die

That's how you and I will be

~Billy Joel

Baby Beluga is pretty sweet and special too.

Love our Raffi.

But darn it, when the pressures on I go blank.

I need a setlist taped to my forearm.

I only solo for the babies....and their lucky parents if they are in earshot.

Love you whenever we're together

Love you when we're apart.

Yaya

Add to the beauty: Flowers

Besides their beauty,

flowers are story keepers.

 Snapdragons Talk

Hostas Pop

Peonies Droop

Daisies Count

Queen Anne's Lace Decorates

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask?

 A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” ~Victor Hugo

Encourage one another,

Donna

Add to the beauty: Photography

Memories.

Summer shadows.

Thirteen year old Katie.

My oldest grandchild will be thirteen in August.

He is tall and loves to play baseball and I bet his shadow looks like 

daddy long legs too.

"Love is the most important thing in the world,

but baseball is pretty good, too."  ~Yogi Berra

Hello again, everybody… It’s a bee-yoo-tiful day for baseball. ~Harry Carey

I will never regret taking a picture. ~ Miz Boo

I wish you a summer evening with long shadows and warm breezes.

Baseball bats optional but highly recommended.

Encourage One another,

Donna

P.S. Katie will be playing summer volleyball in a few weeks.  She says I can't come and cheer.

I do not understand why I'm the only mother who wants to do this.  But gosh, I'd love watch!

Add to the beauty: Poetry, blogging

*******

I started my blog in 2004.  Many of the original readers and commenters are homeschool mothers.  

Family and homeschoolers.  

(Mainly from The Well Trained Mind boards)

Then Ree, the Pioneer Woman, also a homeschooler, joined the blogging world and invited me to write for her website. (I was inspired to pick up my big girl camera from her photos and then in turn she liked my photos and asked me to write photo tutorials.) 

Many more people came along because of Ree.

Meeting all of you thru the years has been the best part of blogging for me.

The covid years were a black hole of worry and boredom, loneliness, confusion and anger.

My blogging mojo was kaput. 

As I start making a few piles of good, 

I've tried to blog a little more.  

I'm dancing in the kitchen every day.

I'm not watching television and have even cut down drastically on political youtube watching.

I do watch Jeopardy with Patrick every evening.

I have become a big LA Angels fan because of Shohei Ohtani and watch every game.

I watch Kdramas all the time.

(big blog post about Kdramas to come)

and I have fun on Instagram finding funny and touching stories to share. 

How does this all go together with the thoughtful poem at the beginning of this post?

Di Wheeler sent it to me. 

Many of you will know her and her name.

But I thought not everyone will.

We became friends because of this blog.

We know what will touch one another's hearts.

And because it touched ours (mine and Di's)

I know it will mean something to many of you, too.

The poem is a continuation on the theme of suffering.

Those great sorrows we all must endure.

“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” 

~Victor Hugo

Endure we must and endure we do with the help of God and loved ones and encouraging words shared with long time friends made in the strangest of ways...

This is my community

I don't really have another.

Sorrows become a part of you,

but I think the sweetness of kinship shared between beloved family and friends most definitely becomes a part of you also.

These joys are the beauty of enduring.

Encourage one another,

Donna 

 

Add to the beauty: Meaning

I'm reading the through the Bible this year.  

Started in June with the encouragement from Allie, Proverbs 31 girl

Yesterday we finished Job.  Allie's comments on suffering and eternal focus were just perfect and I wish I could share then but they went away.  (Clips on Instagram stories only last 24 hours unless they are saved in a special place). 

However, Allie also shared this song. Though you Slay Me by Shane and Shane with words from John Piper.  I just sobbed while listening to them.  Suffering is a big stumbling block, for I would say...all of us.  Understanding and believing that our suffering is not meaningless, well,  that is everything.  Our loved ones are waiting for us.

Have a listen to this song and make sure your tissues are nearby.

Love you all.

Mean it.

Donna Elsie

Add to the beauty: A prayer

I jotted this prayer down over twenty years ago.  It was found in an Elisabeth Elliot book.

Now it is my time.  It's for me.

Lord, You know better than I know myself that I am getting older and will someday be old. 

Keep me from... the fatal habit of thinking I must say something in every subject and on every occasion.

 

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.

 

Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy. 

With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all, but You know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. 

Keep my mind from the recital of endless details-give me wings to come to the point. 

Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains, but help me to endure the with patience. 

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I will be mistaken. 

Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint-some of them are so hard to live with-but a sour old woman is one of the crowning works of the devil. 

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And give me the grace to tell them so.

(anon)

Encourage one another,

Donna Elsie